This is all the more reason as to why being professional in business exchanges is important and should be reinforced. That is not to say table talk needs to be dry and fully factual. Various topics can be discussed but should probably stay in the realm of common business grounds to avoid getting too personal. If the conversation gets too personal, the company rep may actually enjoy the physician's company and feel obliged to pay for their meal. That is why it is pertinent to not blur the line between personal and professional conduct, which may be easier said than done.

Strict policies are definitely necessary for our communities today. As absurd as it sounds these restrictions provide a great amount of safety, and even though many may consider rejecting gifts a rude gesture, it is much needed for legal business purposes. As others previously mentioned, these rules are a way for companies and
individuals to avoid bribery lawsuits. For instance, even professors are forbidden from accepting presents given to them by their own students.

I would have to agree with what others have said in that in the first place, it is inappropriate for the wife to have come to the dinner. When going to dinners or lunches there should be a professional or business related aspect to the meal. As my father is a physician I would say these regulations are not too restrictive in the slightest. Physicians need to offer what they think is the best medication for their patients, gifts do not offer anything to the people being treated. Meals offer an opportunity for representatives and physicians to discuss with the meal being a courtesy nothing more. Both sides of the party need to act responsibly, the doctor is responsible to get the best information to serve patients, not to get free stuff, and the other party must act appropriately.

My company also has rules against gift giving for protection against lawsuits. Personally I think instead of restricting the process they should just ban it. Doctors shouldn't have to be bought and should just go off of the science or have patients chose products between companies. I recently learned that certain doctors office only stock drugs from certain pharma companies, the sunshine acts tells us there is no bribery taking place but clearly something is going on with some offices and some companies.

Correct, this is to impose and ensure ethical manners in the busniness world, even though the intentions may be well it still may lye other intenetions. which may not be approbriate. However espically when taking one to dinner, I think it should be allowed to at least be able to pay for there partners dinner as well. This may lead to some strange conversations and thought after the meal. But for the sake of ethics it would be understandable.

Roberto,
I believe the restrictions are in place for a reason. Imagine the corruption that could happen if the restriction was lifted. Staff would try to buy their doctor’s attention through extravagant gifts and those who don’t gift the right amount could find themselves looking for another job. While others think the restrictions are ridiculous, I believe they are justified. I believe the restriction forces physicians to maintain a strict business-only relationship with their staff, which is the way it should be.

I think it makes sense that these rules are being placed. you might consider it little too restrictive, but they should be placed. My dad was a doctor in India and he told me the stories about things that these big companies offered him for prescribing their medicines. They used to host dinner every week for the families of almost all the doctors in different hotels of your choosings. They gave us free trips to different cities and countries to travel to just so the doctors would sell their medicine. The reasons I say that its fine for this rules is because first of all, you shouldn't bring your wife for work meetings because their might be some confidential information involved.

Strict policies are always a good routine to follow, to have a successful company so everything would run smoothly. I mean it is kind of understandable that you can only get a gift for the physician that is related to the field. Maybe because if it was allowed to get a gift that is not related to the field, some physicians will get better gifts than the others and this will create problems among the physicians. I think having strict policies is always a good thing, but over strict policies are not preferable, because paying for his wife's meal is okay to do.

Policies like those restricting to provide certain payed services to physicians for example is important to understand why they are established and practiced. These policies i believe are set to prevent corruption and biased opinion to the product. As mentioned in the lecture, there could be other better products that could provide a higher quality of life to their patients but because physicians are being payed, it takes away the chances for their patients to experience this quality of life. Ethically, i believe it does not seem right, just as how in engineering ethics, taking money can be considered as bribery. Any services that are usually first approved first by the legal department must be strictly between the customer and the company, i believe it should not be with the physician's family or friends, that would be a loss as well if the doctor changed his mind.

I just want to emphasize the fact that companies take these gift policies very seriously. For example, in my company every employee is required to complete yearly training on the AdvaMed Code of Ethics as well as our own corporate policies regarding gift giving. Every year before the holiday season the president of our company sends out an email reminding everyone to follow these policies for any holiday gifts. Not only do we have policies governing gift giving to medical professionals, but we have a policy that we may not receive any gifts from vendors in excess of a certain amount. I actually had this happen to me last year. One of our vendors sent me and several other people a gift during the holidays in expression of their appreciation of us doing business with them. Someone discovered that the gift exceeded our limit, and we all had to send the gifts back to the vendor.

I agree with the fact that if there is a business deal between two people, it shouldn't involve other family members. Therefore, I don't think that the restrictions are too much. Because its a dinner to discuss projects, it should be treated as a professional meeting, rather than a social meet. As for the gift giving, I also think that the restrictions are necessary because you don't want the person receiving the gift to feel uncomfortable. For example, when vendors bribe doctors to use their medicines and tries to send them on trips; because of this bribery it will make the doctor feel like they owe the vendor, and this isn't how the medical industry should work. The same idea applies to gifts that are too expensive. Medical industry should be focused on helping people rather than gifts, and the restrictions definitely help keep this in focus.

I really agree with everyone above that Kick-back law is one of the thing to make sure patient gets the best service for which they come for and not something that is good for them just because sales rep offer something in return for it. But I really think with all this in place I almost agree with everything but what disturbs me in this is the place of meeting. Like I think if you go to a good place for discussion that really helps you to put your best foot forward also it helps you think in more sophisticated manner. There have been so many research that the place or environment you are in influences your way of thinking and even it influences your sales. Like I don't say that you take physician to a pub or a party place but to some good restaurants would be ideal and if you go to such places I think 100$ limit would be to small. I think they should only change this clause the rest works perfectly fine for the interest of patient. In health care everything should always be from patient interest point of view.

The restriction of physician's gifts is a guideline for companies to follow to avoid being accused of bribery or influencing their decision to be involved with a project. While it is a bit strict and some may find it unnecessary, it is for the protection of every party involved. Paying for the physician's spouse could be considered bribery as well. A physician's spouse has an amount of leverage over them; by paying for their meal, it can be seen that the person taking them to dinner is using that leverage to increase their influence overall. The deal being made should not involve family members.

@Julienneviuya I understand that the spouse does have a good deal of leverage but I have heard that this ca lead to some very uncomfortable situations. As a medical device sales person it is hard to maintain a friendship with someone in the medical field. Treating a friend to dinner that is a physician can be seen as an infraction and lead to complications to both parties. It would smarter in my opinion to set a limit for how much the salesman is allow to cover for dinner. if the sales person wants to pay for dinner at TGI Fridays it is less of bribe than paying for just physician at Rao's in NYC. It should not matter how many people are being paid for but rather how much is being paid.

I feel that this isn't too strict. Even though it might start as someone just paying for dinner, it could lead to other gifts or people even expecting gifts simply because they did business with someone. I have had doctors who instead of doing the right thing, pushed a product on me that I wasn't comfortable taking. I consulted with other doctors and they all told me that what he was doing was unethical. Even with all these restrictions, unethical behavior is still being practiced in the medical field and I feel that maybe the restrictions need to be more strict.